Coded UI Test now gets error about Newtonsoft.json not being found

Question

I have a simple coded ui test to log into an application. The test is data driven and uses data from TFS. We are using a TfsTestAgent user (that has admin privs) that is on both the server and the agent systems. When I execute the test, I see the following
error:
The unit test adapter failed to connect to the data source or to read the data.
For more information on troubleshooting this error, see "Troubleshooting Data-Driven
Unit Tests" (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=62412) in the MSDN Library.Error
details: Could not load file or assembly 'Newtonsoft.Json, Version=4.5.0.0,
Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed' or one of its dependencies. The
system cannot find the file specified.
The test run log (UITestLog.html) shows this:
I, 2524, 81, 2015/03/24, 13:27:09.815, 14494724802, QTAgent32_40.exe, ExtensionFramework : Reading extensions from custom dir 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTT\12.0\UITestExtensionPackages'
V, 2524, 81, 2015/03/24, 13:27:09.830, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, UnitTestExecuter.RunClassInitializeMethod: Acquiring m_runner.SyncRoot.
V, 2524, 81, 2015/03/24, 13:27:09.830, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, UnitTestExecuter.RunClassInitializeMethod: Acquired m_runner.SyncRoot.
V, 2524, 81, 2015/03/24, 13:27:09.830, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, CodedUITest : CodedUITestExtension.BeforeClassInitialize()
V, 2524, 81, 2015/03/24, 13:27:09.830, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, CodedUITest : CodedUITestExtension.AfterClassInitialize()
V, 2524, 81, 2015/03/24, 13:27:09.830, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, UnitTestExecuter.RunClassInitializeMethod: Released m_runner.SyncRoot.
V, 2524, 81, 2015/03/24, 13:27:09.830, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, UnitTestRunner.ExecuteDataDrivenTest: started.
V, 2524, 8, 2015/03/24, 13:27:10.377, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, CodedUITest : CodedUITestExtension.BeforeClassCleanup
V, 2524, 8, 2015/03/24, 13:27:10.377, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, CodedUITest : CodedUITestExtension.AfterClassCleanup
V, 2524, 8, 2015/03/24, 13:27:10.393, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, CodedUITest : CodedUITestExtension.Dispose()
I, 2524, 8, 2015/03/24, 13:27:10.393, .\QTAgent32_40.exe, UnitTestRunner.Dispose.
The interesting thing is that Newtonsoft.Json (aka Json.Net) isn't used in the project at all or any referenced libraries. From the above log, it appears to me that this is outside of the coded UI test since it isn't registered as a script exception.
The question then is, why did this start after changing the user that the Coded UI system runs tests under? I have tried reverting it back to the original user via a snapshot (and change the host environment in Test Manager). Doing so gives me the same result
above.
I'm looking for any ways to debug this further or ideas for fixes. I have tried the following as failed fixes:
including Newtonsoft.Json in the solution
copy over the library to c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies
revert to a known working build and run it (still get same error)
Big thing to note is that last item. I had builds that I know worked and worked on multiple machines. Using those builds on any machine produces the same result. What could cause that error message and be machine/test code independent?

Answer 1

Hi JasonUnrein,
>> Could not load file or assembly 'Newtonsoft.Json, Version=4.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
Based on the error message and your description, I assume that the issue might be caused by your application instead of the Coded UI test. Were the project which you test a Web Api project? If so, I would recommend you log into the application directly without
the Coded UI project to check whether the application could work correctly. The link below might be useful to you:
# Could not load file or assembly 'Newtonsoft.Json, Version=3.5.0.0
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6176841/could-not-load-file-or-assembly-newtonsoft-json-version-3-5-0-0
>> Big thing to note is that last item. I had builds that I know worked and worked on multiple machines. Using those builds on any machine produces the same result.
In my option, I will recommend you create a new web project and a new Coded UI test project to test instead of using the original project.
If I misunderstood you, please feel free to let me know.
Best Regards,
Edward
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